HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Wednesday 10 Dec 2014
Pharmacist workforce growing THE pharmacist workforce is growing, to a full time equivalent rate of 90.1 employed pharmacists per 100,000 people, up from 87.1 in 2011, according to new information from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The entire allied workforce was growing, at nearly 154,000 practitioners registered in 2013 compared with more than 146,000 in 2012, AIHW spokesperson Dr Adrian Webster said. The average number of hours worked weekly by pharmacists was 36 hours in 2013, which had been steady since 2011, AIHW said. Allied health practitioners with the longest average week were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners at 41 hours. Pharmacists were the second largest proportion of registered allied health practitioners at 18.2%, after psychologists at 19.8%. CLICK HERE for more information.
Tas Health Council THE Health Council of Tasmania has been confirmed, including a pharmacy representative. Statewide Hospital Pharmacy executive director Tom Simpson has been appointed to the Health Council. The Council will provide advice to the government and comes as part of the Tasmanian government’s move from three Health Organisations to one (PD 06 Aug).
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AMA: scrap PBS calls THE Australian Medical Association (AMA) has urged the government to scrap the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) phone system for issuing of authority prescriptions. In a submission made to Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Josh Frydenberg in relation to cutting red tape in medical practice, the AMA said the time spent making authorisation calls was time lost to patient care. There were about 500,000 calls made each month, and an estimated 25,000 patient consultations were lost while
Galantamine PI update THE Product Information (PI) for galantamine, used to treat dementia of the Alzheimer type and marketed as Reminyl and a number of generic brands, has been updated by Janssen-Cilag to include a new precaution about serious skin reactions, including Stevens-Johnson syndrome, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has said. These reactions had been reported in patients receiving the treatment, the TGA said. Serious skin reactions associated with galantamine were very rare, and Janssen-Cilag had written to healthcare professionals with further information, it said. CLICK HERE for more information.
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practitioners obtained authorities. It said the authority system imposed an administrative burden on the vast majority of medical practitioners who did the right thing, to potentially defer the few who might seek to prescribe outside the PBS requirements. The Department of Health is currently undertaking a review of authority required PBS listings (PD 29 May) but the AMA said while a significant improvement to the productivity and efficiency of the medical workforce could be achieved by scrapping the authority system as a whole, it was not expecting a complete overhaul as a result of the review. In a submission to the Review, the AMA said alternatives to the system included practitioner audits and education, and the Department’s other means of tracking and monitoring PBS medicines. Pharmacy Guild national president George Tambassis said the removal of authority scripts would be a significant and beneficial red tape reduction. “Pharmacists would be delighted if they were scrapped.”
Rural pharmacy needs THERE is potential to address clinical pharmacy service needs in rural hospitals by cross-sector employment of pharmacists, according to a new case report published in BMC Services Research. With many rural hospitals in Australia and New Zealand not having an on-site pharmacist, sessional employment of a local pharmacist was proposed as a potential solution, the report said. CLICK HERE for the online study.
Priceline, Myer top cosmetics spend PRICELINE Pharmacy and Myers have topped the share of women’s last four week cosmetics expenditure at 15% The Roy Morgan research showed from the survey of 1,110 women over 14 years of age who bought cosmetics in the last four weeks, 9% shopped at David Jones while Chemist Warehouse sat at 6% ad Coles at 1%. This follows Roy Morgan research showing 25.6% of women in the year to June bought their make up from supermarkets at any given period (PD 05 Dec). CLICK HERE for more.
Renewals in late THE Pharmacy Board of Australia has said pharmacist registration renewals are now in the late period. By 01 Dec, 94% of pharmacists had renewed and 1% had opted out, the Board said. Pharmacists can still renew until 31 Dec, with a late fee applied. CLICK HERE for more information.
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Pharmacy Daily Wednesday 10th December 2014 t 1300 799 220
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